Companions of the Night: Forever
by Sunshine Aradia
Summary: Well, I totally hate doing summaries. But, if you like vampires, then this is an okay story.
1. Chapters 1-2

Companions of the Night: Forever  
by Sunshine Aradia  
  
~1  
I think about him every day. Ethan Bryne. My first love. My only love.  
It was about a month before my nineteenth birthday that I received the first and only word that told me he was alive.  
I woke up on the third of april and went out to the kitchen of my father's house. He handed me an envelope. It had my name and the address of this house on it, but no return address.  
"Who sent this?" I asked.  
"I don't know, Kerry," my father said.  
I raced up to my old room, opened the envelope, and read the letter. It said:  
Dear Kerry,  
I wanted to let you know that I'm still alive. I think about you often.  
  
I am living in Florida with some friends and I changed my name to Michel Pierre. I'm sorry, but I can't give you my address. I just wanted to tell you I still love you.  
  
Remember you asked me if there was any chance that I would change my mind about leaving New York? Well, I've decided to go back. I'll be there in July. That will give you and me both time to get ready to see each other again.  
Love, forever and ever,  
Ethan Bryne  
  
P.S. My offer still stands.  
  
My heart was beating frantically. I wondered if Dad had left for work yet. I hurried downstairs. My dad and seven-year-old brother, Ian, had left already. I couldn't wait until they came home to tell them where we would go for my birthday, since they had been asking for the past couple weeks.  
I decided to buy myself a new dress for my birthday. I grabbed my car keys, my purse, and went out to my van. I drove to Rochester because there was a huge shopping mall there.  
When I finished shopping, I headed for home. When I got there, Dad was there. I got ready to tell him.  
"Hi," I said, when I got inside. "Dad, remember you asked me where I wanted to go for my birthday?"  
"Yeah. Did you decide?" he asked.  
"Yeah, I did. I thought about it for a long time and I've decided that I want to go to Florida. We could leave here three days before my birthday and leave Florida a week later. Please?"  
"Well, since you've never been there and it will be your birthday...I guess we can go." Dad said hesitantly.  
"Oh, thank you, Dad."  
"You're welcome, Sweetheart," Dad said. "How was your day?"  
"Fine. I bought a new dress. With my own money, of course."  
"That's nice. I'll call you down for supper. Ian will be home soon."  
"All right. I'll be up in my room. Don't tell Ian. Send him up," I said to Dad.  
I figured I should tell Ian the whole story. Everything. Since I needed him to be my back-up in case anything happened while we were down there. I had it all written down in a special journal I kept with me that held nothing but that story. I had time to read the letter one last time before Ian got home. I tucked the letter in the back of the book.  
Ian has learned a lot since he was four. Like, he learned to knock on my door and he learned never to ask me to get him anything from a laundromat or anywhere after 7:30 at night.  
"Come on in, Ian," I said, when he knocked on my door. "I have a very important story to tell you, but you have to promise never to breathe a word of this to anyone, okay?"  
He nodded and I began my story.  
  
*^_^*  
  
~2  
"And all of this really happened?" Ian asked, after I had finished telling him about my adventure with Ethan.  
"Yes." I hesitated. "The thing is, Ethan wrote to me and I got this letter today." I handed him the letter. "Here's the other thing I wanted to tell you. We'll be going to Florida for my birthday. I'm going to look for him down there." I told him and handed the letter back to me.  
"I promise I won't tell Dad about this."  
"Thanks."  
At that moment Dad called us down for dinner. Ian and I walked down together. Supper tonight would be lasagna.  
"So, did your sister tell you?" Dad asked Ian.  
"Yeah, she told me. Are you going to your house tonight, Kerry?" Ian asked me.  
"Yeah. We'll take my van down. I'll call up the traveling company and get us direction books to help us. You guys make sure you pack a bathing suit, at least one dressy outfit and plenty of T-shirts and shorts, of course."  
After supper I left, driving my van to my house. It took me about eight minutes to get there. I had received the keys to the house one morning when I woke up and found them sitting beside my pillow at Dad's. There had been a small note attached that said:  
Kerry, Here are three keys. One goes to  
the house. The other two go to the cars  
in the garage. I love you. Good-bye.   
Ethan  
I had cried a little when I found them. I had been lucky no one called the police when Ethan disappeared and I showed up in his house. I had made my decision. My plan had been put into action and I hoped he would still be in Florida when we got there.  
  
*^_^*  



	2. Chapters 3-4

Chapter 3  
When the fifth of May finally arrived, I was very happy. I quickly played Beethoven's ninth symphony, giving it a jazz beat, on the piano I had learned to play after Ethan left, and began to pack my things for Florida. I loaded a backpack up with books, tapes, and word-find books, plus four pairs of clothes for the next four days.  
  
I stopped before leaving the house to make sure everything was turned off. I drove to Dad's with the music on. Ah, country music, what beautiful music to listen to. (Author's Note: So sue me, I love country music. Had no idea what the author wanted her to listen to so I made it country.)  
  
When I got to Dad's, I left the suitcase that I had packed the week before and the backpack in the car and only brought two pairs of clothes into the house.  
  
"Hey, guys," I called out, when I got inside, "is all your stuff packed?"  
  
"Yeah," Ian said. "But before you go upstairs, why don't you come into the living room?"  
  
"All right," I said with a smile, "what's going on?"  
  
"Nothing. Come on. Please?" Ian asked, with a big puppy dog face.  
  
"I'm coming. I'm coming."  
  
When we got to the living room all our relatives and friends jumped up and shouted "Surprise!". I was so surprised, I couldn't think straight.  
  
We had cake and ice cream and I started opening presents. The first gift had my name on it and someone's name I hadn't heard from in four years. It was a gift from my mom.  
  
"How did this get here?" I asked my dad, who was sitting next to me.  
  
"I have no idea. Maybe it came in the mail," Dad said, with a huge grin on his face.  
  
"No, it didn't," Ian said and left the room. When he came back . . . our mom was with him.  
  
* ^ _ ^ *  
  
  
Chapter 4  
"Hi, Honey. Happy Birthday," she said.  
  
"Mom!" I cried and ran over to her and hugged her tight. To my surprise, she hugged me back even tighter. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I just wanted to be with my daughter on her nineteenth birthday," she said.  
  
"It's good to see you, Mom. Why don't I open the presents, talk with the guests, and then I'll take you to see my house. Okay?"  
  
"You got your own place? How much did it cost?"  
  
"Well, you can say it was pretty much a gimme," I told her nervously.  
  
"I would love to see it. First open the presents," she said rather excitedly.  
  
Mom's gift was a good sized box. When I opened it, I saw four other boxes. Each box had a number on it. The numbers were sixteen to nineteen.  
  
"What's this?" I asked her, confused.  
  
"There's a gift in there for the past four years that I have missed giving you a present," Mom said, "open sixteen first."  
  
I drew a deep breath and held it while I unwrapped number sixteen. I unwrapped a necklace, bracelet, and earrings set, and they wre all diamonds. The necklace was a charm necklace with five charms on it. Two charms were circular. One was a heart and another was a tear shape. These were all pretty, but the last charm was a gold cross with a diamond at the intersecting point.  
  
"They're beautiful, Mom," I said.  
  
"Thank you, Honey. Now, open the other three," she told me.  
  
The next two presents were less exquisite than the first, but the last was an early nineteenth-century ball gown, in the French style (*AN: Don't ask me why, I just love long dresses and thought this was a beautiful time period for dresses*).  
  
"Mom, thank you so much. I'll try to think of a day that I can wear the dress, but I'll wear the diamonds forever," I told her.  
  
"Well, certainly not forever. A person only lives so long," she said.  
  
Ian and I exchanged glances and I didn't tell her that I knew someone who would live a very, VERY long time.  
  
"Anyway, they're lovely. Let me open the other gifts, then we'll go to my house."  
  
When I finished opening gifts, I talked to my relatives and friends. After about half an hour I was ready to go.  
  
"Okay, Mom. Let's go take a look at my house. "I grabbed my keys and we left.  
  
We went out to my van and I got behind the wheel.  
  
"How well do you drive?" Mom asked.  
  
"Pretty well. Wait until you see the house. I think you'll like it," I told her.  
  
We rode in silence for the rest of the time. When she saw the house, she gasped in surprise.  
  
"This is where you live? It's beautiful! I wonder what the inside looks like."  
  
I chuckled. "You'll see soon enough. Come on."  
  
I unlocked the door then stepped inside and turned on the light. Mom stepped in a second later. She was even more surprised than she had been outside.  
  
"Wow! This place is really magnificent. you even have a grand piano. Remember how I tried to make you take those lessons?" Mom asked.  
  
I didn't answer but went over and sat on the stool, instead. I played a song Ethan had played on it three years ago. "Unchained Melody."  
  
"Wow!" she said again. "You've become quite an accomplished player. How did you learn to play so well without music?"  
  
"Well, I had a friend who used to live here, and he sold this house to me," a lie, but it served it's purpose, "and he played even better than I do. Do you want to see the rest of the house, then we'll sit down, drink some tea, and I'll play some more. Do you still remember how to play?" I asked her.  
  
"A little. Do you have any sheet music? I can't play without it."  
  
"Yeah. I have some up in my room."  
  
We walked around, looking at my things. She liked my computer room and the master bedroom with its large canopy bed. I got the music out from my closet and we went back downstairs. I gave Mom the box of music and went out to the kitchen to make our tea. Soon music was wafting through the house.  
  
"Mom, the tea is read," I called out to her after a while. The music stopped and I brought the tea out on a silver tray.  
  
"This is a beautiful piano. It's all tuned up and everything." Mom said.  
  
"Thank you," I said.  
  
After I finished my tea, I played quite a few songs before I announced that we had to leave.  
  
"Do you mind if I make a bed on your bedroom floor? I have to leave tomorrow afternoon."  
  
"Sure, Mom. I have to go some place tomorrow. D'accord?"  
  
"You speak French, too?"  
  
"Yeah. I took French lessons three years ago."  
  
When we got back to the house, I helped Mom take her stuff up to my room. I made her a bed and we went downstairs to collect my gifts.  
  
* ^ _ ^ * 


	3. Chapter 5 and an Author's Note

Chapter 5  
The next morning I left the house before Mom and Ian got up. Dad was up and had breakfast ready. When I left I headed right to my house. I had to call the travel agent for road maps. He told me I could pick them up that afternoon.  
  
When I finished with the travel agent, I called Florida Info. "Hello. I need some information," I told the operator.  
  
"Okay. What do you need?"  
  
"I need the phone number and address of a Michel Pierre. Can you give these to me?"  
  
"Yes. One second please." Pause. "The address 2132 Bevlin Drive Dover, Florida. The phone number is 659-0859, area code 813. Would you like me to put the call through?"  
  
"No, thank you. Good-bye."  
  
I had written the information down while he was talking. Then I stuck it in my address book.  
  
When I got back to Dad's, I headed to my bedroom. Mom was sitting on my bed with a book in her hands.  
  
"Mom, what book is that?" I asked nervously, although I was pretty sure I knew what book it was.  
  
"Did you write this? It's really good!" she told me.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Did you get everything done?"  
  
"No. I have to check Dad and Ian's suitcases. Why?" I asked.  
  
"I just wanted to spend time with you today. When do you think we can do something together?" she asked.  
  
"Well, we can spend time together until four. Wait a minute and I'll be right back."  
  
I checked Ian and Dad's suitcases and twenty minutes later we were in Mom's car driving toward Rochester.  
  
"So, where are we going? I remembered my purse, just in case," I told Mom.  
  
"Well, I thought we could go to the mall and do some shopping," she told me.  
  
"Cool."  
  
We went shopping until four, then returned back to Dad's. I helped Mom put her things in her car, then Ian and I kissed her good-bye and she was on her way. After she was gone we loaded up the van and went inside.  
  
"Now, let's get some supper and get ready for bed. We'll be leaving at 5:30 AM, on the dot. I'll be waking you two up at 5. Right now I have to go get the maps. You guys want to go with me and we'll eat out?" I asked them.  
  
"Yeah!" Ian shouted.  
  
"Okay. Go get some pants on. No jeans. I'll be back in twenty minutes."  
  
I went back to my house and changed into black slacks and a cream blouse. Then I left the van behind the house and got the white Ferarri out of the garage.  
  
When I drove up to the house, Dad and Ian were outside. They both had shocked expressions on their faces. I smiled at myself, trying to imagine what they would have done if I had driven the Rolls Royce instead. I rolled down the window and yelled out to them.  
  
"What are ya waiting for? Christmas? Come on, let's go."  
  
It was 7:30 before we got back.  
  
"Make sure you all get a goodnight's sleep. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow," I told them before going to my house.  
  
* ^ _ ^ *  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE!This will take the place of the second chapter that I would have normally put in this section of the story. The next chapter may seem a little wierd if you haven't read a few series of books. The first series you would need to read is The Last Vampire series by Christopher Pike. The second series you would need to read is the Night World series by L.J. Smith. Now, some people may wonder why I used the characters in Christopher Pike's books. I used them because I wanted to give Kerry a choice in the chapters that follow. Once I put those chapters up, you will understand my insane reasons a little better (*I hope*). Well, that's it for this section. Hope you have had an enjoyable time reading this. 


	4. Chapter 6-7

Chapter 6  
We arrived in Florida the day before my birthday. We checked into a hotel in Tampa and I told Dad I would be back soon. Although I had never been to Florida before, the map I had of Tampa and its surrounding towns and cities would get me to where I wanted to go.  
  
I pulled onto Bevlin Drive within half an hour of leaving the hotel. The house was located at the end of the road on the left hand side of the dead end road.  
  
I parked the van and walked up to the door. I checked my watch and saw it was four thirty, fifteen minutes before sunset.  
  
I walked into the house, knowing Ethan would be asleep.  
  
I looked around and saw I was standing in a kitchen. I took a left in the dining room, walking into the living room. I looked in the first door to my left. In there was two boys lying on some beds. I quietly closed the door and moved to the next door. There was a man about his middle twenties with black hair, asleep on the bed. I closed the door and looked into the next two rooms. In each of them was a girl around twenty years old, each with black hair. In the last room was a girl about nineteen with long, blond hair. That wasn't the wierd thing. All the others had been asleep, but this one was awake! I turned around and saw a door at the other end of the house. I walked to it at almost a run and opened it.  
  
Lying on the bed was Ethan. I looked at my watch again. Oh, no! It was four fourty-five! I started heading into the living room where I had left my purse. When I was halfway through the living room, all five doors opened, and the six people that were in them walked out.  
  
They saw me all at once and started coming towards me. Suddenly, someone behind me spoke.  
  
"If any of you touch her, you will ALL answer to me."  
  
I turned around and saw Ethan.  
  
* ^ _ ^ *  
  
Chapter 7  
I turned around slowly, looking at Ethan. I could tell he didn't recognize me.  
  
"Hello, Ethan." I said. The sound of my voice must have triggered a switch in Ethan's memory.  
  
"Kerry?" he asked quietly.  
  
I ran to him and hugged him as he swung me around. Then he put me down and started asking me questions.  
  
"How did you find me? I thought I told you in my letter that I would be back in July?" He asked.  
  
"How do you think I found you? I called Florida Info. You should have made them make your number an unlisted phone number. And I wanted to come down to spend my birthday with you."  
  
"Oh. By the way, Kerry, these are some of my friends. Starting on the left is Ray and Seymour. Then you see Yaksha. Next comes the sisters, Lalita and Kalika. And their mother, Sita."  
  
"Hello." I said, smiling at them.  
  
I heard heys and hellos from different people.  
  
"Why don't we go for a drive, Kerry?" Ethan asks.  
  
I said okay and we left the house.  
  
As soon as Ethan saw the van, he turned to me, asking, "Do you drive any better than you did?"  
  
I grinned and we climbed in. I started up the car, turned around and pulled out of the driveway.  
  
We drove to the beach and watched the sky grow darker and darker.  
  
"So, are they?" I asked him, knowing he knew I was talking about the group at his house.  
  
"Yes, they are. Although Sita and Yaksha are the oldest, Kalika is the strongest of them all with Yaksha and Sita coming in close."  
  
"Are there any other types of vampires?"  
  
"Yes, there are at least three different types that I have found so far. So, when's your birthday?"  
  
"Tomorrow. I'm going to spend the day with Dad and Ian, then I have no idea what." I said, hoping he would get what I was trying to say.  
  
"Okay, I can take a hint. How about a birthday party at my house. No, your dad and Ian cannot come. I can't be responsible for them as well as you. I'll pick you up at 6:30."  
  
"Okay. I have to get back to the hotel." I started the van up and drove Ethan home, then drove myself to the hotel..  
  
* ^ _ ^ *  
  
Chapter eight will be coming soon. I just wanted to say something to all the people who might say something about the fact that I made Sita, Yaksha, Lalita, Kalika, Seymour, and Ray still vampires. Yes, I know that all of these people died and Sita went back into the past to destroy her vampiric maker, Yaksha. I have read all six of the books. This is my story, I can make it how I want. I liked all three of these characters and,about Lalita being a vampire, it is not impossible for another vampire to have gone and made her a vampire after Sita left India. Just wanted to clear that up. 


	5. Chapters 8-10

Chapter8  
The next day my dad, Ian, and I went to Disney World and Epcot Center. We had a great time.  
  
That evening, Ethan picked me up at 6:30. I wore my new dress.  
  
"Comment allez-vous?"I asked Ethan in French.  
  
Tres Bien. Et toi?" he answered, a knowing grin on his face.  
  
"Fine, thanks." I answered and we left for his place. The party was already going when we got there. Ethan pushed open the door and we saw Sita in the kitchen.  
  
"How are things going here? Everyone behaving themselves" Ethan asked. She nodded and we went into the living room. There, I began to meet people.  
  
Ethan and I walked up to a girl with long, curly red hair.  
  
"Hey, Poppy. Where's James?" Ethan asked her.  
  
"Hey. I think he went to the bathroom." It was then that she noticed me. "Hi, I'm Poppy. You must be Kerry."  
  
"Poppy and James' relationship is a different one. She'll tell you about it later. Over here we have Thea and Eric with Gillian and David." Ethan introduced me to them and we continued on.  
  
We came up to a different group all together.  
  
"Kerry, this here is Quinn and Rashel," he said, talking about a black-haired couple. Then, standing right next to them was an ash blond guy with his arm around a pretty brunette, "and Ash and Mary-Lynnette."  
  
After they left Ash and Mary-Lynnette, there were only two people Kerry hadn't been introduced to yet. A quiet, tall guy and a girl with blond hair and a pink birthmark running down one of her cheekbones.  
  
"And this is Hannah and Thierry Descouedres. The Lord and Lady of the Night World."  
  
Thierry's eyes glared at Ethan and she knew he had violated a big rule. Although, Ethan didn't seem to care about any of Thierry's rules.  
  
The night went by and, by the end of the party, I had heard all their stories, including Sita's. At 5:30 in the morning, I had been awake almost twenty-four hours.  
  
Ethan announced that it was time for me to go back to the hotel. He had known I was practically dead on my feet.  
  
On the way back, I fell asleep in the car. When we got to the hotel, I woke up when he picked me up and asked me what room I was in. I told him and promptly fell back to sleep.  
  
I woke up that morning around 10:30, still in my dress.  
  
* ^ _ ^ *  
  
Chapter 9  
I had enjoyed that party like none other. That night Dad, Ian, and I went out to supper.  
  
Ethan and I spent a lot of time together those two weeks, always at night, of course.  
  
I was thinking to myself a few days before we had to go home. I had decided, finally. I knew what I wanted.  
  
I wanted to become a vampire.  
  
It's funny how things happen, right when you've made the biggest decision of your life.  
  
* ^ _ ^ *  
  
Chapter 10  
I had given Ethan's phone number to Ian, just in case Ethan had to be called for any reason.  
  
I'd had to go to the store to buy some new books and personal supplies for the way back home. I made it safely to the store. It was on the way back, about two blocks from the hotel, when it happened.  
  
I was starting to drive through a green light and all of a sudden, a truck to my left came rushing through their red light.  
  
Seeing him just in time, I wrapped the strap of my purse around my wrist so it wouldn't be lost. The driver of the truck slammed into my side and my chest hit the steering wheel. I heard some bones in my chest crack and break and my left arm became trapped between the steering wheel and the door.  
  
The deep pain I was feeling in my chest and arm made my vision fade to black and I slipped into unconsciousness.  
  
* ^ _ ^ *  
  
AN: For those of you who don't know French, here are the translations of all the French.  
  
Comment allez-vous? = How are you? (formal version)  
Tres bien. Et toi? = Very well. And you? (informal version) 


	6. Chapters 11-12

Chapter 11  
I woke up slowly, my chest in pain as well as my arm.  
  
I opened my eyes to the sound of a heart monitor by my bed and my dad and the doctor over me, waiting for me to wake up.  
  
"Ah, good, you're awake. Welcome back, Miss Nowicki. You've been out of it for a while. Now, you had a few broken ribs and a broken left arm. Now, we -" the doctor cut off as I started coughing badly. My mouth had a coppery taste to it.  
  
When I turned my head back to the doctor, my dad gasped in shock. The doctor touched my bottom lip and his finger came away with blood on it. He turned around and called for one of the nurses.  
  
"Nurse, we need to do a test. I think she may have internal bleeding."  
  
***  
  
As it turned out, the doctor was right. Somehow one of my ribs had punctured my lung somewhere. The only thing was, the doctors couldn't figure out where my lung was punctured.  
  
When the doctors told me I had only about a week to live, I asked if the doctors would let me have visitors and he said yes, but no more than one or two at a time. Then they let Ian come in to see me.  
  
"Remember that number I gave you?" I asked Ian. When he nodded, I told him, "Call him. Tell him to bring Thierry, James, and Quinn. Don't tell him anything else. Just where to come."  
  
Just as I finished telling Ian what to do, I passed out once again.  
  
* ^ _ ^ *  
  
Chapter 12  
When I woke up again, he was in the hospital room with me. I knew there was no one else there.  
  
He was sitting by my bed, holding my hand.  
  
"Do you know yet?" I asked him.  
  
"All I know is that you're in here. What's going on, Kerry?" Ethan said, worry clearly written across his face.  
  
"I'm gonna say this and get it over with." I took a deep breath but, since it was hard for me to take deep breaths, I started coughing again.  
  
When I finally stopped coughing, Ethan became stiff. He had seen, and smelled, the blood on my lips.  
  
"Kerry! Are you okay? What happened?" Ethan cried.  
  
"Ethan, I got into a bad car accidend. A truck hit me straight on my side of the car. My ribs were broken as well as my arm." I paused.  
  
"That still doesn't explain the blood!"  
  
"I was getting to that. When my ribs broke, one of them pierced my lung. They can't find the hole, though. They gave me a week to live."  
  
"Kerry, no, you can't leave me!" Ethan gave me a hard kiss. "I won't let you."  
  
"Ethan, I know what you mean. I want to be with you, too. I don't want YOU to change me, though. I can't live without the sun. Why do you think I told Ian to tell you to bring James, Quinn, and Thierry?"  
  
"Kerry, does Ian know? About me?"  
  
"Yes, I told him before we came down here."  
  
"We'll talk about that later." Ethan said. "I didn't bring them, because I couldn't find them. But, if we do what I think you want to do, we have to get you out of here."  
  
"I know. What time is it?" I asked him.  
  
"It's midnight. Let me make sure the coast is clear." Ethan left to check the halls. "Okay, its clear."  
  
He carefully pulled the IV out of my arm, blotting the blood with his tongue when it welled up. Then he picked me up off the bed and stealthily left the room, running into no one.  
  
* ^ _ ^ * 


	7. Chapters 13-14

Chapter 13  
I fell asleep in the car, although it was a light sleep due to the pain I was in.  
  
Ethan brought me into the house and took me straight to his room.  
  
"How are you?" Ethan asked me in a whisper.  
  
"I'm fine. Go make the phone calls." I told him, then fell asleep.  
  
***  
  
I woke up to find Sita sitting next to me.  
  
"How are you?" She asked me. The question was becoming a little bit annoying.  
  
"Fine. What time is it? where's Ethan?" I asked, seeing the light coming through the shades.  
  
"It's about 2:00 in the afternoon and Ethan is in the closet," Sita said. "Ethan wanted me to sit with you until he woke up. He told me to tell you not to move and the Night Worlders would be here about five."  
  
"Thank you, Sita." I said then fell into a light doze.  
  
When I woke up again, it was around 5:00. Ethan was sitting next to me.  
  
"Kerry? Thierry, James, and Quinn are here. I've already told them what you want and they've agreed. First up, James."  
  
"Thanks, Ethan."  
  
James appeared then, his brown eyes filled with an infinite sadness as he gazed at me.  
  
He came over to the bed and I tipped my head to the side to allow him full access. He leaned in and I felt his teeth sink into my neck.  
  
I felt none of the earth-shaking feeling I felt with Ethan when we were just touching as ames drank.  
  
After about a minute, he pulled back and cut his wrist. I fed off his wrist, knowing this was what Poppy had done about five years before.  
  
When James carefully pulled his wrist away, he left the room.  
  
The next day the same thing happened, but with Quinn. And each time, surprisingly I felt more energetic and my pains seemed to grow less and less.  
  
On the third blood exchange, after I finished drinking the blood from Thierry's wrist, I was incredibly sleepy. I closed my eyes and the rest was silence.  
  
* ^ _ ^ *  
  
Chapter 14  
When I opened my eyes up next, it was to see Ethan leaning over me.  
  
"Hello," I whispered to him and he pulled me into his arms.  
  
"How are you? How do you feel?" Ethan said, searching my face for any sign of pain.  
  
"I'm fine," I said, then I started having pains in my chest and I felt like I was suffocating to death.  
  
"Thea!" Ethan yelled and Thea came rushing in. She held out her wrist toward me and I felt my canines elongate. Carefully, so as not to hurt her, I bit into her wrist and began to drink.  
  
A couple seconds later I pulled away, the pain gone.  
  
"I love you," I said to Ethan and pulled his head down for a kiss.  
  
***  
  
Ethan and I went to see my father the next night. I had "disappeared" about two weeks before.  
  
It took us a while to get my father calmed down enough to explain to him that someone had taken me from the hospital and had performed a miracle: I wasn't going to die!  
  
Dad wanted me to go to the hospital for tests, but I quickly got him to change his mind.  
  
I wanted to go home with Ethan, but knew my dad wanted me to stay with him. I decided to stay with my dad for that night. After all, I had an eternity to spend with Ethan.  
  
My first love. My only love.  
  
* ^ _ ^ * 


End file.
